I think when the League brought out this system of the bottom four having to play off against championship clubs most of us fans of the "bigger" clubs just assumed it would always be the "usual" clubs at the bottom and all we had to work on was the top four.
But the league is so even these days I think we all have to accept that a poor spell through injuries or complacency can drag any team into the bottom four.
Last year it was Leeds, this year most Likely Warrington and Catalan but Saints and Wigan aren't completely clear yet.

Due to the nature of the play offs teams 9 and 10 aren't really in danger of being relegated so, although it is disappointing to finish so low I think the fans have to accept that it can happen to any club.
The clubs just have to use it as a spur to do better next season.

If Huddersfield continue their much improved form I can see them making the 8 which means someone else finishing in the bottom 4 who maybe weren't expected to be there.

Isn't a more competitive League what we wanted ?

Competition at the expense of quality? No.

Some would prefer the usual three or four be at the top and in the finals. It's funny how the only fans talking about the lack of quality is fans from clubs who aren't getting their own way this year.

I dont mind the 8s but one tweak i would make to super 8s is to expand the play offs to the old top 5 format which we used when it all started in the late 90s. That way finishing top gets a real reward and expanding to 5 keeps it alive for longer for those in 6th 7th and 8th as we have seen the top 4 pretty much done and dusted before super 8s has begun last couple of years.

And how do you ' prove ' the reduction in quality ?

Or is that how you explain the ' bigger ' clubs aren't at the top ?

Personally I think the eights are done & dusted for part one.

The conundrum for me is who'll finish where. Cas & Leeds will make the top four but as to where the other six will finish, I couldn't call it.

Of the bottom four I think Catalans are the most at risk, there just seems to be no fight in the squad, maybe their new coach can rectify the malaise.

Ask anyone that has watched SL over the last 15 years.

Or how about asking people who don't support Wigan, Saints and Leeds?

Yes your right but I was saying before today's result, mathematically Warrington could still have caught us if they won all remaining 6 games and we lost all remaining games. Same with Catalan

after this weekend's games the top 5 like they have qualified. saints and wigan look likely but no means certain (saints v hudds 'extra' match looks more important now, and wigan need to break their losing run). looks more likely to be 4 of widnes, leigh, wire, hudds and catalan, but as mentioned above always the intriguing possibility of someone else getting dragged into it